Elon Musk revealed exoskeleton concept for Cybertruck, when announcing the new EV. However, it turned out that such a concept is not viable at this time, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. Back when Musk promised a starting price of $39,900 for the Cybertruck, the Tesla CEO also waxed poetic about the stainless steel frame on which his futuristic electric pickup would be built.
"We created an exoskeleton," he quipped, referring to the fact that Tesla wants the to "move the mass outside" and have the walls of the Cybertruck to provide much of the supporting structure. That would create a lighter, easier to produce vehicle, considering the already daunting task that is crafting something out of stainless steel.
That grand idea, however, may have given way to more practical considerations, at least for the first production Cybertruck units, which Tesla calls Release Candidates. Recent spy shots of their structural body parts at the Gigafactory in Texas offer just a hint of the exoskeleton concept. The sections, produced with Tesla's cost-saving Gigacast method, are reportedly coming together out of necessity for the presence of mandated support structures and crumple zones.
According to veteran auto industry analyst and teardown specialist Sandy Munroe, the Cybertruck is "unconventional in some areas," referring to its angular design and unorthodox steel body, "but for the most part it's a conventional build."
The perennial "sources familiar with the matter" have now revealed why that may be the case. Those Wall Street Journal sources say that Tesla has apparently nearly given up on the Cybertruck's exoskeleton concept for the prosaic reason that the pickup had to pass the government's demanding crash tests. "The company did so, at least in part, to meet safety standards," added one insider, creating a more utilitarian pickup truck than initially envisioned.